Flights departing Wellington to these same centres had also been cancelled.

Air New Zealand spokeswoman Brigitte Ransom said the weather in Wellington had also affected unrelated centres

"Low cloud this morning caused the cancellation of some services to and from Wellington Airport, which had a flow-on effect on our regional network, including to Christchurch."

Flow-on effects had meant the cancellation of four Air New Zealand flights into Christchurch including one from Wellington, and flights NZ8839 from New Plymouth, NZ5062 from Invercargill and NZ8092 from Dunedin.

MetService forecaster Ian Gall said dense cloud that blanketed Wellington's hill suburbs this morning was expected to stick around for much of today.

With temperatures getting down to only 17degC last night and expected up to 21degC today, the warm weather was combining with moist air to create the cloud and fog.

There was no significant wind on the way to ''flush'' it away, meaning the fog and cloud was expected to stick around until tomorrow morning.

However, there may be a break in the clouds for a short time this afternoon.